Becker: Fed would do better than Nadal and Djoko in the late 1980-90s era!

For all the talk of the current “Golden Era” of tennis, Boris Becker says there’s only one Golden Boy who could have competed alongside his generation of greats: Roger Federer.

“I don’t think [Rafael] Nadal or [Novak] Djokovic would have been so successful in the era of serve and volley, but Federer could have played,” Becker said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi over the weekend.

He added that Federer’s variety puts him ahead of Nadal and Djokovic.

“The reason why Federer is still successful at the age of 31 is because he has got a good technique,” Becker said. “He can play from the baseline and when he has to, he can also come to the net more often than other players.”

As for whether Federer is the best player of all time, Boris was more inclined to hedge.

“It is the ultimate question, but unfortunately it has no answer,” Becker said. “Roger Federer has won more tournaments than anybody, but it remains unknown if he would have beaten a McEnroe, a Borg, a Laver or me.”

I think Nadal could have handled playing against those guys. What I think is absolutely hilarious is that Boom Boom includes himself in the discussion with the all time greats. Wake up Becker, you are not in that league.

Depends on how generous one's cutoff line is. Is the cutoff line 7 slams, where Mac is? Then you leave off alot of guys. I won't bother to name them all, but I do think Becker vs. Nadal would be a very interesting match. I'd say Nadal would have 35% chance to beat Becker on fast indoor or grass. And Becker would have 10-15% chance to beat Nadal on clay.